Safety guard for die presses



E. H. HALL.

k 3/ as 3 .HAHW

SAFETY GUARD FOR DIE PRESSES Filed Nov. 12, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l r;fiigul H 45 Jan, 2, 1mm

E. H. HALL 2,185,298

SAFETY GUARD FOR DIE PRESSES Filed Nov. 12, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iIIIIHHT I "Wuh- Patented Jan. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES earner orrlce SAFETYGUARD FOR DIE PaEssEs Edward H. Hall. Chicago, Ill.

Application November 12, 1938, Serial No. 240,140

9 Claims.

. The safety guard of the present invention is designed to prevent theoperator of a die press or like appliance from inserting his hand orfingers beneath the working parts of the die press after they have begunto move and which .might result in serious injury to the operator. Itsometimes happens that an operator, in an effort to readjust a piece ofmaterial beneath the die press, will insert his hand or fingers and runthe risk of having the same caught and crushed, and it is to preventsuch accidents that the safety guard device of the present invention isprovided.

The structure and arrangement of the device is one which elevates andfolds up the guard blades. when the die head is raised, so that thespace required for the introduction of the work will not be obstructedin any way, with the provision, however, that as the die head descendsthe guard member will be thrust downwardly and its blades spread outfanwise in such a way as to afford an effective obstruction to the handsof the operator.

Further objects and details will appear from the description of theinvention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figurel is a side elevation of the guard device of the present inventionarranged in duplicate; Fig. 2 is a detail of one of the guard deviceswith the blades spread;

. Fig. 3 is an edge elevation of the same;

Fig. l is an enlarged sectional detail taken on line l-d of Fig. 2; i

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail showing with any device orappliance embodying similarly arranged reciprocating parts where it isdesired to make provision for preventing the introduction of theoperators hand as the parts approach one another.

As shown, each of the guard devices embodies a channel shaped supportingarm it having inner and outer side Walls M which carry a pintle l5 uponwhich are pivotally mounted. a series of blades iii,- ll, it, it,although a more or less number of blades may be employed.

Each of the blades in its forward face and surrounding the pintle I5 isprovided with .an annular groove Within which are located theconvolutions of a coil spring 2i. The coil spring associated with theoutermost blade iii has one end secured to a pin 22 fixedly entered intothe outer wall of the supporting arm, while the op posite end of thecoil spring is secured to a pin 23 which enters the head of the blade.The remaining springs have one end secured in each instance to a pin 2%fixedly entered into the next adjacent outer blade, and the opposite endof the spring secured to a pin 25 fixedly carried by the blade withwhich the spring is immediately associated. The result of thisarrangement is that the normal tendency of the springs in unison is tospread the blades fanwise as shown in Fig. 2, provision being made,however, for the folding of the blades as indicatedin Fig. 1. i

The head of each blade is provided with an elongated slot 255, and thelength of the respective slots is progressively increased as indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 5. A cross pin El is entered through all of theslots and is supported within the side walls of the arm it as best shownin Figs. 5 and 6. This arrangement permits the spreading of therespective blades in varying degree, but permits them all to be foldedinto a compact compass against the tension of the coil springs.

Each of the supporting arms it, where a duplicate arrangement isemployed, terminatesat its inner end in a tubular head 23 fixedlymounted upon a rod 29, whichin turn is carried by and downwardlyprojects from a tubular support 39 slidably guided at its upper endthrough a swiveling collar 3i which is carried by a pivot 32 enteredthrough an offset bracket 33 upstanding from a bridge bar 34 which spansthe space between the upright standards it and affords a fixed mountingfor the guard of the present invention.

The arrangement is one which permits the guard as a whole to rise andfall with the movable head of the diepress and to sweep across the gapbetween the fixed and movable portions of the die press by anoscillating movement in a manner to be more fully described hereafter.

In order to effectuate the oscillatory movements required, the tubularsupport 3i is provided near its center with a collar 35 frictionallyheld in place by a set screw 36 bearing against a spring. 31, which inturn acts upon a friction block 38, the arrangement being such as topermit of a slight degree of lost motion which may be required incoordinating the movements of the device presently to be described.

The collar pivots the outer end of a crank 39 actuated by a rack ll;pivotally connected to a post ll carried by the die head, so that, asthe latter rises and falls, movements will be imparted to the rack ll)which meshes with a pinion d2 fixedly connected to the crank 39. v

The bracket 33 at its upper end carries a stop 83 which is positioned tobe engaged by the upper end of the tubular support 30 when it has beenoscillated to its outermost position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and inorder to fold up the blades when the guard device has been swung to itsinnermost position, a stop member 44 is provided which is fixed upon andmovable with the head of the die press.

Operation Although the guard device of the present invention has beenshown in duplicate, it will be understood of course that a single devicemay be employed where conditions do not require the extended protectionafforded by duplicate devices, and that the operations now to bedescribed relate to a single member of the duplicate arrangement.

With the head of the die press elevated as in Fig, l, the support forthe guard will stand in oblique relation with the blades folded andbearing against the stop M and elevated relation with respect to'theunder face of the die or punch head, or other mechanism with which thedevice is associated. This elevated position of the guard is due to thefact that in this adjustment of the parts the crank 38 projects inwardlyand up-- wardly as indicated in 1, being held in this position by themeshing of the rack 8 with the pinion 12.

As the head of the die press descendsjthe rack will likewise descend andoscillate the crank arm, which imparts an oscillatory movement to theguard support, causing it to swing downwardly and outwardly. Thisoutward movement carries the previously folded blades away from the stop44, so that will open' out fanwise under the tension of the coilsprings, and these movements will continue until the guard has sweptacross the face of the punch press from the innermost position shown inFig. 1 to the outermost position shown in 2. This sweeping movement ofthe parts, together with the spreading out or opening of the blades,serves to effectually prevent the insertion of the operators hand orfingers, and in the event such insertion be attempted, the combinedswinging and spreading movements of the guard will carry back thehand orfingers of the operator from a dangerous positicn and effectually guardagainst accidents.

On the return movement of the parts, the upper end of the guard supportwill come into contact with the upper stop 33, and in order to avoid thenecessity for a close coordination of movements, the frictionalconnection between the crank and the tubular support afforded by thespring pressed friction block 38 is provided, which permits slippage ifoccasion requires.

Although the device hasbeen described. with particularity as to detail,it will be understood that variations may be introduced to meetspecialor particular requirements conditioning the use of the device, and thatit is not the intention, unless otherwise indicated in the claims, tolimit the invention to the features in the form shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of blades and a mounting for theblades adapting the same to be folded or distended, means controlled bythe movements of the movable member for oscillating the blades as agroup, and means for distending the blades concurrently with the advanceof the movable member.

2. In a guard device, for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of pivotally mounted blades and springmeans for normally distending the blades fanwise, a pivotally mountedsupporting member for the blades, means actuated upon the movements ofthe movable member for oscillating the pivotally mounted supportingmember to cause the blades as a group to oscillate, and a stop memberfor holding the blades in folded relation at one end of the range ofoscillatory movement, the arrangement permitting the blades to distendunder spring tension. as the group of blades is carried away from saidstop member.

3. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of blades and a common pivotalmounting for said blades, a spring connecting one of said blades withsaid mounting and springs interconnecting the remaining adjacent bladesin succession with the first mentioned blade and with one another tonormally cause a spreading of the blades fanwise, a stop member forholding the blades in folded relation and under spring tension, andmeans actuated upon the movements of the movable member for oscillatingthe blades as a group away from said stop member and permittingunfolding of the blades.

4. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a

plurality of blades and a common pivotal mounting for said blades, aspring connecting one of said blades with said mounting and springsinterconnecting the remaining adjacent blades in succession with thefirst mentioned blade and with one another to normally cause a spreadingof the blades fanwise, a stop member for holding the blades in foldedrelation and under spring ten-. sion, and means actuated upon themovements of the movable member for oscillating the blades as a groupaway from said stop member and permitting unfolding of the blades, saidmeans including a crank having its free end pivotally connected to thesupport for the blades, and connections for actuating said crank.

5. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of blades and a common pivotalmounting forv said blades, a spring connecting one of said blades withsaid mounting and springs interconnecting the remaining adjacent bladesin succession with the first mentioned blade and with one another tonormally cause a spreading of the blades fanwise, a stop member forholding the blades in folded relation and under spring tension, andmeans actuated upon the movements of the movable member for oscillatingthe blades as a group away from said stop member and permittingunfolding of the blades, said means including a crank having its freeend pivotally connected to the support for the blades, a pinionconnected with the crank, and a rackconnected and movable with themovable member and meshing with the pinion.

6. In a guarddevice for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a.

plurality of blades and a supporting arm to which the upper ends of theblades are pivoted, spring and stop means for distending the blades invarying degree, a stop member positioned to be contacted by the bladesto hold the same in folded relation, a pivotally mounted swingingsupport for the supporting arm, and means actuated upon the movements ofthe movable member for oscillating the swinging support to retract theblades from the stop and permit unfolding of the blades.

'7. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of blades and a supporting armcarrying a pintle upon which the upper ends of the blades are pivotallymounted, the blades being respectively provided with slots of varyinglength, a pin carried by the supporting arm and entered through saidslots for permitting varying degrees of movement to the respectiveblades, spring means for normally distending the respective blades totheir limits of movement, a stop positioned to be contacted by theblades for holding the same in folded relation, and means for moving theblades as a group away from said stop to permit fanwise unfolding of thesame.

8. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of blades and a supporting armcarrying a pintle upon which the upper ends of the blades are pivotallymounted, the blades being respectively provided with slots of varyinglength, a pin carried by the supporting arm and entered through saidslots for permitting varying degrees of movement to the respectiveblades, spring means for normally distending the respective blades, totheir limits of movement, a stop positioned to be contacted by theblades for holding the same in folded relation, and means foroscillating the blades as a group across the face of the movable memberand away from the stop to permit unfolding of the blades individuallyconcurrently with their oscillatory movements as a group.

9. In a guard device for machines embodying a movable member in thenature of a die head, a plurality of blades and a supporting armcarrying a pintle upon which the upper ends of the blades are pivotallymounted, the blades being respectively provided with slots of varyinglength, a pin carried by the supporting arm and entered through saidslots for permitting varying degrees of movement to the respectiveblades, spring means for normally distending the respective blades totheir limits of movement, a stop positioned to be contacted by theblades for holding the same in folded relation, and means foroscillating the blades as a group across the face of the movable memberand away from the stop to permit unfolding of the blades individuallyconcurrently with their oscillatory movements as a group, said meansincluding rack and pinion elements actuated upon the movements of themovable member, and means connected therewith for afiording oscillatorymovements to the supporting arm.

E WA D H. HALL.

